It's been a busy couple of weeks! I've only just settled in nicely at the Pink House in the foothills of the Himalayas and gotten into a routine of yoga (which I am horrendous at) and figuring out how to cook without non-stick pans... Food really clings to steel! I'll delve into my living space the next post but for now I'll detail my first few days back in India.
I actually used to live in Calcutta (now Kolkata), New Delhi, and Madras (now Chennai) and have lived in the states the same amount of time as I've lived in India. Actually, my staying here for a couple months might put India back in the lead!
I was six years old when I first moved to Delhi and I just loved it. I went to AES (American Embassy School; Go Falcons!) and my best friends were an American adopted from Bangladesh, a French/British mix, a French/Japanese mix, and a girl from Namibia. One of my friends had a camel and a deer and two of them lived in these farm houses that used to be on the outskirts of town and were just HUGE. I was in Delhi for four years and I was so incredibly bitter and angry when I had to move back to the states for a few years because my dad was posted back.
I moved to Chennai when I was fourteen and I ended up falling in love with it as well. During my time at AISC (American International School Chennai; Go Raptors!), I actually got to go back and visit Delhi a couple of times with friends or because of sports tournaments. I have to admit, it didn't match up to my childhood memory. It's amazing what can change in four years, especially with such a developing city as New Delhi. However, despite not enjoying it as much, I didn't actively start to dislike it until I went back my first year of college. I was visiting a couple of friends and we ended up going to a mall whereupon we were followed by a pack of men. We weren't dressed at all provocatively and we were doing nothing to draw attention to ourselves. It was pretty uncomfortable. Now, I'm not saying that this doesn't happen elsewhere and, to be fair, this was pretty mild compared to what I've experienced in the past, but it was just so blatant. It was in the middle of the day, in a supposedly nice place and it just struck a wrong note with me.
Add the fact that Delhi has expanded outward instead of upward and suddenly Delhi becomes not only uncomfortable for female travelers but quite a trial to navigate through. Taking a took took/auto rickshaw from one area of the city to another can take an hour at times, perhaps more with traffic.
Since Delhi is such a hub, it made sense to travel there from Hong Kong and then go to the mountains. We stayed at Hotel New Hindustan International and arranged for an airport pickup from them. It was harrowing but manageable. The hotel was a complete disappointment. Don't go. There are cheaper places for the quality we had and there are places on par with better facilities. The bed was fine but the bathroom was pretty grimy. It did have hot water but the wi-fi that made the hotel so appealing didn't even work.
On arrival, the nicest person we met didn't even seem to work for the hotel! He was actually affiliated with this travel agency:
Bridge the World Tours and Travels Delhi
He ended up sending a car for us the next day to ferry us to the agency. Despite the manager being a bit pushy and constantly babbling about wonderful India where anything is possible and you can travel anywhere for a decent price, it ended up working out. We got a package deal for an AC car to go from Delhi to Agra, Agra to Jaipur, stay in Jaipur for a night, and then Jaipur back to Delhi before going on to Himachal Pradesh. It ended up costing a total of 22,000 rupees which we thought was worth it seeing as how everything was pretty booked by that point, transportation wise, and a separate car from Delhi to HP would have been 7,000 rupees anyway. Apparently this is the time for Indians to go on holiday so most of the cheap transport is a fight to get tickets for since the students are off for the summer. Also, he started the pricing at 30,000 rupees but after I repeatedly stated that my boyfriend is a student and I WAS a teacher, it became quite clear that we were not rolling in the cash-monies and he ended up relenting. I'm sure we still ended up getting cheated but not as badly as we would have originally.
While we were a little a little unsure about the agency at first, the manager ended up being quite helpful and got a driver to help us figure out ATM stuff. Afterward, he dropped us off at Sarojini Nagar. This is one of the most popular street markets in Delhi and it has all sorts of clothes and little shops. I also FINALLY had masala dosa again =) This is actually a south Indian breakfast food but you can find it most places in the north (except for where I'm at now...).
We also ended up going to Palika bazaar in Connaught Place, which is the sketchier, underground version of Sarojini Nagar. En route in an auto, the first taste of the monsoon appeared and we were literally pelted from all sides. Seeing as how I had my Nikon D7000 with me, I was not keen on having it soaked so we bore the brunt of the damage. Monsoon rains in India are no joke! The drops are literally the size of coins and there's usually no warning that the tempest is about to start. It's almost like there's an off/on switch and some sadistic little child was put in control of it.
Our auto driver kept whooping at the buckets of water that came drenching down, which added to the ridiculousness of the experience.
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| That's the India Gate in the background, passed it on the way! |
Anyway, we waited for the torrent to abate under the white colonial looking columns and buildings of that form the circle of Conaught Place. Once it stopped as abruptly as it began, we headed to the seedy Palika bazaar. You can find anything from pirated movies to other sorts of electronics and clothes. It had an air of shady dealings all around.
After this, we headed to Vasant Vihar/Basant Lok since I remembered there being a TGIFridays which I went to when it opened in the mid-90s. When we arrived, we found that the McDonalds which has turned me off of mayonnaise for life was still there! They used to lather it on and it would fill up about half of the chicken burger... Also, apparently TGIF was closed/relocated. We ended up finding this nice Italian place in the area.
Getting back to our hotel was not too fun. It ended up being 150 rupees (one guy was trying to charge 200/300!) and luckily someone was able to translate and explain where it was.
That's about it for our time in Delhi. Pretty disappointing overall. I think it's more fun to live there when you have a comfortable means of transportation and are familiar with everything. Everything has changed so much that I lost that familiarity. Sorry if this was not the most entertaining of posts!
